Tag: Quaker

Three sections from MOTET I

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment

1

pick a language . a religion . a star, somewhere

of what I’ve distrusted
and yet seek

in the night of spring greening
where birds begin arguing (the males, as usual

but listen

good questions
guide better
than many answers

let me relate notations
of elk found on mountains
behind mountains – beside mountains, too
where streams run fast and clear
in everlasting rapture

before they appeared to me in their flesh
before I had children
before you appeared
but now

we’ll argue theology over lunch or dinner
or the menu

but first, grace

2

all this is not the same
as sitting by yourself

not the same as watching
anything

or listening to anything
or tasting anything

you can touch

since you asked, I’ll tell
you everything I know

if you tell me
where you’d like to start

3

to be completely honest
is so simple
you would think

until facing others
until facing yourself

all the temptations
all the screw-ups

all the aspirations
all the ruins to your back

all the idealized masks and labels
you wear
the childhood you’ve never left
all the flattery and self-delusions
all the false accusations you can’t quite shake

all the flaking paint on the siding of your house
all the cracking plaster within

as you age, all the lost years
you deny
all the shortcuts

so much of what your mirror
never reveals

no matter what you say
no matter what they say

the sins of omission
as well as commission

all the skills of a Philadelphia lawyer
all the skills of public office
all the skills of executive decision

any or all

the impossibility of saying exactly who you are
or why

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set, click here.

LET’S CAST THE SPOTLIGHT AWAY FROM POOR JOB

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 3 Comments

Could it be that the Book of Job isn’t so much about the suffering of Job, a man of faith, as it is a critique of conventional religion and religiosity itself?

In my volume Eden Embraced, I approach Job’s plight as if the text were a Hebrew Upanishad, one paralleling a type of classic Hindu writings. Yes, the thread holding the plot together follows one innocent man’s spiritual journey through unspeakable suffering. Blameless as he is – and uncomforting as God’s role is here – Job would have every right to turn in other directions, though he chooses to remain faithful.

The story is endlessly troubling, especially for those who read it from a legalistic perspective. From the outset, God is arrogant, even vain and cruel, rather than compassionate or even all-knowing. And Satan, a member of the sacred council, could be a favored golfing buddy arranging another wager.

The setup can easily lead to contortions as a believer attempts to reconcile other, more conventional, definitions of the Holy One with the action at hand, especially when Job’s buddies begin to weigh in with their platitudes. In many interpretations, Job’s faithfulness is held up as an example to emulate, no matter what. Fat lot of encouragement, right?

As a writer, though, I can see the axiom of trying to address a situation by taking an opposing, uncommon position, which is where I see the story of Job originating. After all, we are faced with the question of just where does evil originate, along with human suffering. Why not blame the Creator?

Is there even a large measure of humor in this? Take the events over the top, asking just what more can happen to poor Job? And that’s where his so-called friends step in, adding misery to his plight and their condemnation rather than comfort.

Would it be nearly as compelling if they did the right thing? If Mother Teresa had showed up instead?

By the way, I delight in the happy ending, which many purists object to as a later revision that doesn’t fit with the general thrust of the plot. Feel free to weigh in as you will.

AIR, AND THEREFORE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

imagine
some flying heaven

with sparks
and the fantasized constellations

wind . inspiration . beclouds and clears

memory . learning
philosophy. theology. mathematics
within logic a song or cunning ethics

the conception . over land, over waters
even fire

all the legged and winged creatures
the very words God said

goodness as well as
food for the mind

dreams
wishes
visions

nothingness
and everything that moves in some fashion

positioning sun, moon, stars
the multitudes of birds
yes, singing

the WAY

I breathe, therefore, and am

ANY

light entering a shadow

light chasing a shadow

headlight of a passing car
swirling around the room

*   *   *

come to me anyway

come to me any way

Poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson
To see the full set, click here.

STILLING THE SEASONS, IF FOR A MOMENT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

For all of their range across time, seasons of the Spirit, as well as seasons of the flesh, are grounded in the here and now. It’s the paradox that unites the two, and intensifies their wisdom. Eternity, in effect, as found in a flash.

Keep racing, and you’ll see nothing but a blur en route to some goal. You can be fully alive in the rush of adrenaline, your attention concentrated on what is essential in split-second increments. The pace is unsustainable for long, naturally, and an emotional crash will follow. The alternative is to stop yourself, to achieve calm before the storm or calm within the storm, before continuing. Stopping, to regain strength as well as collect scattered thoughts and actions. To restore focus and wholeness.

When I think of these seasons, I don’t know whether the yin-yang emblem of Buddhism, with its “S” rippling through a circle, and light on one side and darkness on the other (alternating day and night or sun and moon), or the Christian cross is more appropriate. The cross, after all, leaves us with four quadrants, like the seasons themselves, while the yin-yang expresses alternating rhythms encountered daily.

The daily rhythms converge on sunrise and sunset – in many traditions, times of meditation, prayer, or chanting. Moments to acknowledge the presence of Spirit with us, in our flesh.

Walt Whitman, describing his first Quaker meeting, tells of entering a room where people were “sitting still as death.” The phrase initially appears morbid and troubling. Even so, it reflects an early Quaker understanding of a necessity of “dying to the world” and its desires and distractions in order to become open to the Spirit. Deep silent meditation becomes a kind of winter, to be followed by spring. The flesh, too, is given symbolic rest and freed from unessential movement. The moment becomes timeless. The stream clears. Fears and worries fall away.

This, too, is a season I invite you to discover.

The hour will end, and we’ll return to our usual labors, before drawing back together in stillness.

~*~

For more Seasons of the Spirit, click here.

REINTERPRETING A BIBLICAL TEXT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 2 Comments

In fleshing out minor characters in Scripture, performance artist Peterson Toscano shared an insight: “feet” in the text (and I believe he mentioned “thighs,” too) can be a euphemism for “penis” or “genitals.” So when Zepporah tosses her son’s bloody foreskin at Moses’ “feet” (note the parallel), she’s screaming, “What kind of man are you who would place us all in jeopardy!”

Much of the Hebrew Bible is likely far “earthier” than we’re likely to hear from the pulpit. How much do we lose, then, in translation? How much are fundamentalists, too, missing?

YOGIS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

The old swami was only fifty-one, I see now.
He thought Helene and I both were way too skinny.

The cookies my mother, an inept cook, shipped
went to class anyway. The break, after a workout.
“You moved away from this? You’re nuts!”

“Breathe as if you’re a sponge,” Loretta encouraged.

Life is different when the mind controls the breath.

“You are the most interesting person you’ll ever meet,”
Guru-dev insisted. “Stand in your own Light,
not others’.”

Or stand on your own head, before falling over.

“People leave us alone,” the young bride radiated.
“We pacifists are no fun to fight with.”

An exchange of floral garlands
made a wedding.

When the husband chanted,
he sounded like a puppy
first thing in the morning.

This would be as close as I would get to India
from Ohio.

To continue, click here.
Copyright 2015

NAGGING QUESTION

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 16 Comments

I’ve been trying to avoid one nagging question: How does your faith make you a different person? How has it changed your life? Followed by: How do others perceive this?

The old Quaker testimonies presented faith as a matter of the way we live. Our “sufferings” for our beliefs. (It matters THAT much!) The days when Friends lived “under discipline” – language and clothing as outward expressions – remaining inescapable.

So what about today? How does being Quaker (or whatever your faith) make you not just different, but a better person than you would have otherwise been?

~*~

Seasons 1

For more of my reflections, click here.

 

IMPROVING THE IMAGE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Think about the image the public holds of Quakers these days, and you may have to admit most folks have no idea we still exist. Quakers? Puritans? Amish? Even the oatmeal box man has largely lost any context. Even in the seacoast region, where we were once numerous, we’re largely invisible.

Part of it is our own fault, a consequence of dropping Plain dress and speech (not that we’d return to living under the strictures of old Quaker discipline). Another part of it was a consequence of the Hicksite and Gurneyite separations, which blunted the Quaker mission and message. For the record, the oatmeal company’s founders were so impressed by the reputation of Quakers that they appropriated our name; no Friends were involved. But all that was a long time ago.

Those who do have an image of us are likely to identify Quakers as either protesters, for obvious reasons, or as do-gooder philanthropists (probably in part through the Hicksite legacy and in part from the era when Friends produced a number of wealthy industrialists and financiers). Our most visible witness, the American Friends Service Committee, has contributed to both the demonstrator and charitable impressions.

Noble as that work is, the ultimate challenge we face in restoring public awareness of the Society of Friends is in voicing the spiritual foundation for our actions – the unique faith and practice we treasure. At its core, this means extending an invitation to join us in our remarkable worship. So how do we project a semblance of radiant silence? Makes for a more interesting challenge, doesn’t it?

~*~

Motets 1

For related poems and more, click here.

 

CONSIDER

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Think of our tradition of traveling with a “minute of concern” or of traveling in free-Gospel ministry. So wonderful to revive.

For example:

AFTER THE MANNER

in my travels, presenting
a minute of introduction and approval
even after a stupefaction
“what are we supposed to do with this?”
I’ll explain
this ancient custom revived

what pleasure to meet others also
in public ministry
and encourage the same

~*~

some places their messages will trouble
though many resist

some find
comfort and rest

some hold fast where they wrestle
inwardly and out

~*~

as one clerk endorsed my letter after worship
another Friend announced he’d just received
approval to visit fellow scientists in Siberia
and a voice cried out, “Do you have a minute from Meeting?”

and one was drafted
and approved on the spot

as a start . renewed

poem copyright 2016 by Jnana Hodson

 ~*~

Motets 1

For more poems and other books, click here.

OCCUPATIONAL MATTERS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Even our name, Society of Friends, emphasizes that we’re an assembly of PEOPLE. While we come together “to know that which is eternal,” each of us brings something different to the table (shall I say “our invisible communion table?), whether it’s in worship or our committee service.

As people, our individual training and daily work shapes our personal experience of the divine, and probably each other. I long to hear more from the varied insights within that kaleidoscope. Someone drilled in mathematics, for instance, may see a particular elegance and absolute beauty emerging within a complex calculation; a physicist, awe in the immensity and energy of the universe; a teacher, in the opening of young minds and the challenges that go with it; a carpenter, in the very character of wood or an emerging space; an artist, in the physical variations of revealed light; a gardener or farmer, in the rhythms of the seasons or the tenacity of weeds; I recall one salesman who treasured finding ways to help people solve unique problems in their businesses, even if he didn’t sell his product that time around.

I like the fact that in Bible stories we see occupations as well: shepherds, mothers, fishers, carpenters, weavers, purple-dye makers, tentmakers, rulers, even soldiers, slaves, and priests, their paths crossing and sometimes being transformed.

The other part of the story, of course, is what we take from our faith and practice into the nitty-gritty of our workplace and homes. How are we changed, to work change? In all the directions we go?

~*~

Seasons 1

For more of my reflections, click here.